Stafford railway station
|image1= |caption1=Station entrance. |place=Stafford |local_authority=Borough of Stafford |station_code=STA |managed_by=Virgin Trains |number_of_platforms=5 |united_kingdom_railway_station_categoriesdft_category=C1 |2012/13= 1.929 million |2013/14= 2.038 million |2014/15= 2.119 million |2015/16= 2.228 million |2016/17= 2.329 million }} Stafford railway station is the only railway station in Stafford, Staffordshire, England, and is the second busiest railway station in Staffordshire, after Stoke-on-Trent. The station serves the county town, as well as surrounding villages. The station lies on the junction of the Trent Valley Line and the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line. Stafford station formerly served the now defunct Stafford to Uttoxeter and Stafford to Shrewsbury Lines. The current station building was built in 1962, and is the fourth station to have existed on this site. The interior of the station was refurbished in 2015, which allowed the station to have a new WHSmiths store, and an improved ticket office. History The first station was built by the Grand Junction Railway and opened in July 1837. It soon became inadequate and was replaced by a second station in 1844. A third station was built in 1862 which was eventually replaced by the current concrete Brutalist building in 1962, built as part of the modernisation programme which saw the electrification of the West Coast Main Line. Lines originally built by the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company (to Shrewsbury) also used the station. The Stafford to Uttoxeter line closed to passenger traffic in 1939, with the Shrewsbury line closing as part of the Beeching Axe in 1964. Following the rebuilding of the station between 1961 and 1962 by the architect William Robert Headley, Isabel, a narrow gauge engine built by local firm W.G. Bagnall stood on a plinth on the opposite side of Station Road at the junction of Railway Street, until it was removed in the mid-1980s and is now on the Amerton Railway. Incidents and accidents * On 4 August 1990, an out-of-service train heading to a depot in Birmingham crashed into the back of an express train bound for Penzance on Platform 4 at Stafford station. The driver was killed and 36 people were injured. * On 8 March 1996, a mail train collided with a freight train carrying liquid carbon dioxide just south of Stafford. A mail sorter was killed and another 22 people were injured. The mail train locomotive was catapulted up the embankment and came to rest against a house. The station today Current facilities Currently the station has many facilities which are typical of those across the Virgin Trains Network, such as a ticket office, toilets, car park, coffee shop, and newsagent. Stafford Area Improvements Programme The Stafford Area Improvements Programme by Network Rail aims to allow more trains to run and also aims to reduce journey times by removing key bottlenecks in the area around Stafford. The programme included large scale building works, north of Stafford station in Norton Bridge, Staffordshire, where a flyover was implemented to allow faster train services, and removed the need to slow down before entering the junction. Other benefits of the programme, were the introduction of bi-directional signals at Stafford Station, which meant that trains can now use any platform, regardless of direction of travel. Stafford resignalling Regular Services Northbound rail services Southbound rail services |next1= |next2= |route=CrossCountry Manchester - Bournemouth / Bristol|col= }} }} }} }} }} |previous=Lichfield Trent Valley or London Euston|route=Virgin Trains WCML Manchester Branch|col= }} }} }} External links Category:DfT Category C1 stations Category:Railway stations in Staffordshire Category:Buildings and structures in Stafford Category:Former London and North Western Railway stations Category:Railway stations opened in 1837 Category:Railway stations served by CrossCountry Category:Railway stations served by Virgin Trains Category:Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains